Biography: Augustabernard united her first and last names, creating a griffe that became synonymous with sophisticated elegance. She began modestly, as a copyist, reproducing the models of the great couturiers. Having acquired impressive technical skills, she opened her own salon de couture in 1923 at 3 Rue de Faubourg Saint-Honor. Connoisseurs knew of her work by the late 1920s, but she achieved her greatest fame from 1930 to 1935. Like her contemporary, Madeleine Vionnet, Augustabernard was known for her use of the bias and for the sophistication of her cutting and draping. In 1932, Vogue chose one of her neoclassical evening gowns as the most beautiful dress of the year. Her evening dresses were "grand simple affairs," while her day clothes had what Vogue called "an unpretentious elegance that makes them essentially the sort of thing well-bred, well-dressed women like to wear." Augustabernard was a skilled dressmaker - a technician - not a personality in high society. She looked like "a young woman from the country," recalled fashion journalist Lilian Farly, "and she invariably wore one of her tailored suits without any decoration." She never had many customers - only the most exclusive, with whom she worked closely. As a result, Augustabernard's clothes are now quite rare. Her couture house closed in 1935, a victim of the economic depression.

Museum at the Fashion Institute of Technology
Seventh Avenue at 27 Street
New York City 10001-5992